12 
ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. 
[UPPER 
Cuckoos and Cowpen Bunting of North America, lay their eggs in the 
nests of other birds. Case 68. The Weavers of Africa and Asia, so named 
from the elegant nests they weave with dried grasses : some of these 
live in great colonies with the nests under one great cover ; the Gros- 
beaks, particularly the thick-billed Ground-sparrow of the Galapagos. 
Case 69. The Tanagers of the New World, remarkable for the gay 
plumage of the males. Case 70. The Finches and Buntings, living 
chiefly on seeds ; the Larks, with the hind claw long and straight ; 
the Crossbills, with the points of the beak crossing each other and 
giving them great power in tearing pine-cones to pieces to get at 
the seeds; the Colies of Africa and India, which sleep in companies, 
suspended by one foot; the African Plantain-eaters. Cases 72, 73. 
The Hornbills, with their enormous beaks : the females when incu- 
bating are imprisoned in the nest (which is placed in the hollow of a 
tree) and fed by the male. 
Cases 74-83. The Scansorial Birds, powerful graspers from the 
arrangement of the toes, two before and two behind. The long- 
tailed Brazilian Macaws with naked cheeks; the Australian Para- 
keets ; the Cockatoos ; the New Zealand Strigops with its owl-like 
aspect ; and the red and blue Lories of the Indian Archipelago. 
Case 77. The Toucans of the New World, with large beaks ; one 
of the most curious is the curl-crested species. Cases 78-80. 
The Woodpeckers, with their wedge-shaped beaks and bristly- 
pointed tails ; they live on insects and larvae, which they extract from 
trees, by pecking with their strong chisel-like beaks, and then in- 
serting their long extensile tongues. The species are most numerous 
in America and Asia. Cases 81-83. The Cuckoos. Many of these 
deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds, which sit upon them 
and rear the young; the Honey-guides of South Africa are so called 
from guiding the natives to the nests of wild bees ; the Golden 
Cuckoos of South Africa have brilliant metallic green and purple 
plumage ; the Anis are black birds, found in South America and the 
West Indies. They are very fond of warmth, and live on insects. 
On the East side of the room, in Cases 84-106, are placed the 
Gallinaceous Birds, beginning with the Pigeons, Cases 84-88 ; the 
most conspicuous of these are — the Victoria and great Crowned Pigeons 
of the East Indian Islands; the Nutmeg Pigeons, feeding on aromatic 
fruits; the Didunculus, from the Navigator Islands, now very rare, 
being nearly exterminated by the introduction of the cat into those 
islands ; the Bronze-winged Pigeons of Australia; and a Pigeon which 
has a red spot on the breast, as if it had been shot there with an 
arrow, and the blood had oozed out. Unlike the other Gallinacese, the 
Pigeons when hatched are bare, and require to be fed by their parents. 
On the table cases opposite these, in glazed cases, are the Showy 
Fruit-eating Pigeons from New Guinea and the South Sea Islands. 
Cases !S1), 90. The Curassows of South America, some of them 
with curious crests and knobs on their beak. 
Oases 01-03. The Peacocks and Argus Pheasants of Asia and its 
islands ; the rare Crossoptilon from Thibet, and the many-spurred 
